All posts by dennis

Crown Hill Center, Events

Crown Hill Center Ribbon Cutting!!!

The ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Crown Hill Center will be held in conjunction with Lynn Wirta’s retirement (er.. graduation) party as Director of Small Faces.

As we recently reported, the old Crown Hill School Site was officially sold in two pieces. The playfield was sold to Seattle Parks and Recreation Department and will be converted into Crown Hill’s newest park. The other piece (the school building) was sold to Small Faces / Crown Hill Project.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be at the West Wing entrance (14th Ave) at 4pm to recognize the purchase of the Crown Hill School building by Small Faces.  Light refreshments will follow in the West Wing Hallway.  Live music and kids games will begin at 4pm on the Playground.

Following the ribbon cutting, will be a special retirement dinner and party honoring Lynn Wirta, outgoing Executive Director of the Small Faces Child Development Center.  Dinner will begin at 5pm and there will be a short program at 5:30pm. If you plan to stay for dinner,  RSVP to Kim Ositis (kaositis@gmail.com or 206-229-7948) and include the number of children under 12 who will be attending.

Land Use/Zoning

Neighborhood Plan Status Report — August 12th, 2009 input deadline

As we reported in the earlier article, the Seattle Planning Commission wants your input on how our neighborhood is doing. They are prioritizing the next round of neighborhood plans to be revised. A meeting was held on July 23rd at the Phinney Center where the Crown Hill-Ballard Neighborhood plan status report was considered. Approximately 15 Crown Hill and Ballard residents attended and provided their input. Your input is still needed to let the commission know whether the current plan has been successfully executed and whether the plan addresses current conditions and expected future growth. The commission has developed a simple online questionnaire at: http://www.cityofseattle.net/planningcommission/

Some of the original plan elements were accomplished, while others were not. Additionally Ballard and Crown Hill have an increased population with different characteristics from that when the 1999 plan was developed.

Below is a graph showing by neighborhood the number of completed electronic survey responses received as of August 10th. Although it appears that Crown Hill & Ballard “lead” the city, it is still vitally important that you take the survey as well.

Survey responses received as of August 10, 2009
Survey responses received as of August 10, 2009

Continue reading Neighborhood Plan Status Report — August 12th, 2009 input deadline →

Land Use/Zoning

Crown Hill Ballard Neighborhood Plan update. Still time to get your comments in.

On July 23rd, a number of Crown Hill and Ballard residents gathered around a table with a representative of the Seattle Planning Commission. We had a rousing discussion about how the Crown Hill and Ballard neighborhood has changed since the Crown Hill Ballard neighborhood plan was developed in the mid to late ’90s. The general impression of the folk around the table: The plan is out of date and needs revision to account for the incredible growth in the neighborhood. Changes in the makeup of housing, increased population density, needs for increased green space, improved transportation, pedestrian amenities, and many other topics arose in the discussions.

The planning commission would still like to hear your comments. Yes, you can make a difference. An interested and informed neighborhood will go a long way to assuring the successful update of the Crown Hill Ballard neighborhood plan. The more comments the Planning Commission receives the better. It is vitally important that, as the city prioritizes and schedules our neighborhood plan update, we begin the dialog. You can take a short online survey about how the old plan is working. If you are not already familiar with the old plan, there are some summary materials available for your perusal. Take the survey at http://www.cityofseattle.net/planningcommission/

The last day for comments is August 12th. Please take the time to provide your input!

Continue reading Crown Hill Ballard Neighborhood Plan update. Still time to get your comments in. →

Events, Sustainability

Lasagna gardening demonstration

Sheet Mulching Hands-on Workshop
Saturday August 8, 2009 9 to 12
Kit and Dennis Galvin’s Lawn

Sustainable Crown Hill is putting on a Sheet Mulching and Lasagna Gardening Workshop (no, we won’t be teaching you how to grow lasagna).  These are methods for converting lawn and weeds into the healthy soil and garden space the easy way. This workshop is both for people wanting to learn and those who are “old hands.”  Bring your curiosity, questions, and experience to share. Reusing materials such as cardboard, straw, manure, and even feathers, we will put into practice what we’ve learned to convert a lawn to future garden space. Wear garden clothes and sturdy shoes. Gloves will be a plus.

Please call or email if you are planning to come so we can plan for materials.
Also for directions and information contact Kit
tehama@speakeasy.net or 206.706.7663 evenings and weekends.